Eine Kostbarkeit ..... Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry
ISchn...@aol.com
This is one of the Limbourgs' most original and beautifull miniatures. The
extraordinary movement of the rebel angels falling from the sky and the
chatoyant harmony of blues and golds, almost the only colors used, reveal the
artists' genius.
Not originally planned for the Très Riches Heures, it
is an inset page executed separately either at the suggestion of the Duc de
Berry or upon a sudden inspiration of one or more of the brothers. It was placed
at the beginning of David's Penitential Psalms, probably because the
angels'revolt was the first sin from which stemmed all other sins because of
Lucifer's wish for revenge.
God, fiery faced, holds a globe and sits
enthroned in the firmament with shining seraphim at His feet.
Rows of gold
stalls in semicircular tiers resembling a theater represent the seats, many of
which are vacant, of the heavenly powers: one thought of the Almighty was enough
to send the rebel angels hurtling down.
The fall itself is a marvelous
innovation: the double row of intertwining gold wings and blue robes, headed by
the handsome Lucifer crowned in gold, ends with the angel's conflagration upon
touching the earth.
One recalls the words of Isaiah: " How art thou fallen
from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? " (Isaiah
XIV:12)
High between the two rows of falling angels, we see the heavenly host
in gold coats of mail and silver helmets. Firmly planted at the feet of the
Lord, they stand surveying the execution and ready to obey Him.
small image (25KB) --- large image (255KB) --- God and the heavenly host (large) (242KB) --- Lucifer and the falling angels (large) (249KB)